


To Serve All, But Love Only One

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Character Study, Courtly Love, Devotion, F/M, Service, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 10:10:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9379820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: Poe always says yes.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> "The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one." - Honore de Balzac

“Yes, General,” Poe says, when Leia tells him of a dangerous mission she needs taken on.

“Yes, General,” Poe says, when Leia needs information.

“Yes, General,” Poe says, when Leia needs an operative rescued.

 _Yes, General, Yes, General, Yes, General,_ no matter what it is. It doesn’t even matter whatit is, not to Poe. His answer will always be the same.

When Poe was a boy, his favorite stories were ones his mother would tell about a planet far, far away, somewhere in another galaxy even. There were brave warriors who defended the land from evil, from monsters, from demons, from dark magic, and they always fought in the name of their beloved. They dedicated themselves, their lives and their swords, to the one they revered above all else.

The warriors never won kisses, or rings, or anything. All they won was regard, and favor, and the continued ability to fight for whom they chose. 

Poe always thought that sounded noble.

His father told stories, too, but his stories were real. His stories were about a princess, and a smuggler, and a Jedi, who saved the galaxy. 

Poe’s favorite was always the princess.

The princess is a general, now, and she is still saving the galaxy. Poe looks at her and thinks, there could never be a cause more noble, more worthy. 

Poe’s parents fought for freedom. They fought for him. Poe is glad to follow in their footsteps, to try to make their sacrifices worth it, to protect the freedom so many suffered and died for.

Poe doesn’t want to die. He likes living. But he thinks, if he did, if it was for this, if it was for her, the general, her cause, that would be something worth dying for. Noble, he thinks, like in the stories. Some things are more important than whether or not he opens his eyes in the morning, if it might mean someone else gets to open theirs, in a galaxy that’s safe and free and good.

He learned that from his parents, and he learns it every day from the general, who puts everyone else before herself.

She will never be his. That’s not the point.

Or maybe that _is_ the point, that she is unattainable, that she will always be the general, forever out of his reach. Maybe the point is just that he can do this, for her, he can do whatever she asks, he can be invaluable, indispensable, and he can make her days just a little bit easier.

He isn’t looking for a kiss or a ring. He knows that isn’t his place.

He has never loved anyone in the way that he loves her. But it isn’t about seeking anything, getting anything. He knows she will never love him, not really, and it doesn’t matter that she won’t.

It isn’t about that.

Poe still remembers his mother’s stories. He remembers how happy the warriors were to serve, and he thinks he understands that now. When he was a boy, it seemed like a game, an exciting dream.

It isn’t a game. It’s dangerous. Sometimes it hurts like hell. 

Sometimes the general sits alone, her eyes weary, her back bowed, and it’s hard to remember his father’s stories, the ones where she smiled and laughed and kissed the man she loved. The ones where it seemed like she earned her happy ending.

(Maybe there are no happy endings.)

But sometimes Poe sits with her, and brings her caf, and sometimes he can make her smile, or even laugh. Sometimes her gaze brightens, just a little, and she sits straighter, like she does when she commands a room of Resistance fighters.

And when she asks, no matter what she asks, Poe says, “Yes, General,” always, and he will always say it.

Until he no longer has the breath to form the words.

**_End_ **


End file.
